Any advice for a newbie? Please help if you can!
Hello to all! I have been reading posts for a couple of weeks now trying to learn all I can but what I have learned from you all most is that we are all so much alike! I am hoping someone can offer me some advice in regards to my situation(maybe you have even been in my shoes?); Anyway; I would be most grateful if anyone could throw their ideas my way. Here’s the problem:
I am a Medicaid Carolina Access patient & I have been in treatment for the past 17 years(since age 16) for anxiety/panic disorder. I was molested by my uncle for several years as a very young child and one of my doctors from the past diagnosed me with PTSD. I was on Zanax for 10 years and then Valium for the past 7 years. I have tried every anti- depressant known to man or woman with no success! I thought I would drown in my own depression. I started college but could not finish for paralyzing fear of failure. I have NEVER been able to hold down a job for longer than 6 months because when I get fed up I blow my “short fuse!”
Here’s were it gets interesting: After being divorced from my husband for 3 years due to his prescription opiate addiction he came to me begging for help with his addiction. He is my sons’ father so I naturally agreed to try to help him. After alot of research, prayer and an email written to a detox clinic in Florida my prayers were answered. The doctor called & asked us to come down. After evaluating my Ex they informed him that he had ADHD & had been using the opiates to self-medicate himself for his severe ADHD!! WOW!!!!!!!!! This doctor really knew his stuff because I tried to get him clean for 6 years and so far he has gone for 2 months clean! Yaeeeh!!
So; they put him on Adderral & told me that it is critical that he not run out because it could cause him to relapse. When we got back here to the mountains of NC from Florida Detox I started researching this adult ADHD & OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! Guess what I found guys? MY LIFE, …my mannerisms, my ways & habits in black & white in every article, test and research article! I always thought I was crazy or inadequate & very different than everyone else. I believe with all my heart that this is what’s wrong with me so when I went to my OB/Gyn for some problems I was having I told him about my concerns.
The doctor put me on Adderral that day and I have responded better to it than anything the doctors have tried for the past 17 yrs! My BIG problem is this: I live in the mountains/foothills of NC. The doctors around here act like I really am crazy when I tell them what I think(know) the problem is! All doctors here are very uneducated about Adult ADHD and espescially ADHD in women! My shrink acts like she has never even heard of adult add/adhd!! (lol) I have a ton of print outs, tests I have taken and posts that all point in the same direction. I am almost out of Adderral and would like to know if anyone knows a doctor in NC that has the ability to properly diagnose and help me?? I would just go back to my OB/gyn who gave me Adderal the first time but his assistant called me last week & said he couldn’t write me Adderal again becasue he is a specialist in another field.
So; I have finally found a medicine that I respond positively to. For the first time in my life I don’t feel crazy, stupid, lazy, slobbish, packrat, etc. AND what happens? I can’t find a doctor who even believes there is such a thing as adult ADHD & especially not in a woman ! No doctor = no diagnosis = no meds = the same path of self-destruction & depression! Please help if you can!
Thank you to you all for helping me learn & learn to live for the first time!
Tina
Re: *Desparate For Aduly ADHD Help & Advice!
I am in Charlotte, NC. I have been diagnosed with ADHD. I am currently 21 so am cocnsidered to have adult ADHD. I was diagnosed by Dr. Billie Maitland of Mecklenburg Psychological Group. Just so that you know the cost is extremely high since 6 hours of testing will be andministered. The cost could start from 1200 dollars. I say could since I’m not sure but she is really good and is very honest. I hope this helps. If you have questions email me at [email protected]
Hi Tina,
Gosh, that makes me so mad when I hear stories like yours.
Unfortunately, even in urban areas, doctors are uneducated about ADHD in adult women.
I have some suggestions although please understand I have no idea how feasible they are in your situation.
1. Ask your OBGYN for a referral to someone who would prescribe the Adderall for you.
2. I have no idea if these NC CHADD chapters are close to you but here is the contact information:
a) Mecklenburg County CHADD
Tel: (704) 551-9120 Charlotte
b) Triangle Area CHADD
Tel: (919) 990-1032 Raleigh
Even if you aren’t close by, maybe they still can refer you to a psychiatrist who would prescribe the Adderall
c) Call the main CHADD hotline number at 1-800-233-4050 and ask if they know someone in your area. A word of caution - they weren’t helpful to me about finding a low cost or free drug prescription program to pay for my Adderall. But maybe they are better at referrals like what you need
d) Visit this link:
http://adultadd.meetup.com/71/ as it is the ADHD meetup group for Raleigh, NC. See if anyone on that board can help you.
You said you were on medicaid? Is this psychiatrist through here? Do you have the right to request someone else? Is there a supervisor you could complain to?
Also, what about writing a letter to your congressman/woman complaining about the horrible medicaid services? Of course, you can’t complain that the psychiatrist won’t give you Adderall as the result of your self diagnosis. But you certainly can complain that she refuses to even consider the possibility.
Write to the office in North Carolina that has jurisdiction over medicaid with the same comments.
Hopefully, someone can quickly give you a referral because obviously, you wouldn’t receive a response in writing letters right away.
I don’t mean to alarm you but if god forbid, you do have to withdraw from the Adderall, you might want to ask your jerk of a psychiatrist for an ativan prescription. Some people don’t have any withdrawal symptoms but I most certainly did after being on stimulants for only a real short time. This was in 1995.
If she won’t do it, first check your medicaid policy to make sure ER visits are covered. Then go to ER to get a prescription. That’s why I had to do many years ago.
I hope to god that something I suggested will be helpful.
PT
The doctor put me on Adderral that day and I have responded better to it than anything the doctors have tried for the past 17 yrs! My BIG problem is this: I live in the mountains/foothills of NC. The doctors around here act like I really am crazy when I tell them what I think(know) the problem is! All doctors here are very uneducated about Adult ADHD and espescially ADHD in women! My shrink acts like she has never even heard of adult add/adhd!! (lol) I have a ton of print outs, tests I have taken and posts that all point in the same direction. I am almost out of Adderral and would like to know if anyone knows a doctor in NC that has the ability to properly diagnose and help me?? I would just go back to my OB/gyn who gave me Adderal the first time but his assistant called me last week & said he couldn’t write me Adderal again becasue he is a specialist in another field.
So; I have finally found a medicine that I respond positively to. For the first time in my life I don’t feel crazy, stupid, lazy, slobbish, packrat, etc. AND what happens? I can’t find a doctor who even believes there is such a thing as adult ADHD & especially not in a woman ! No doctor = no diagnosis = no meds = the same path of self-destruction & depression! Please help if you can!
Thank you to you all for helping me learn & learn to live for the first time!
Tina[/quote]